Almost Paradise (6/?)
By Carol M.
See first part for details
Note: Holy intensity, I-man. Enjoy…
"Keep going, keep going, keep going," whispered Darien in a mantra to himself as he pushed himself up the rocky path. His chest was burning from the exertion and every couple of minutes piercing stomach pains would stop him in his tracks. He was about one-third up the path to the top of the cliff, guided only by the light of the moon. It was a struggle to keep himself going.
The path was very narrow and located near the edge of the large structure. Every few seconds, he would peak over the edge and have to struggle not to throw up. He had fallen twice, leaving bloody gashes on his knees and elbows. Still he pressed on, desperate to get to the top.
At some point, he realized he was delirious. It was probably a good thing because if he was rational he would probably turn around and head right back to Claire and Bobby. But he had to do this. He would sacrifice himself so Claire and Bobby would live. It was the least he could do for them after all they had done for him.
As he struggled up the cliff, people and images from his past floated through his mind. He could see his mother tucking him into bed when he was a little kid. He saw his Aunt Celia and Uncle Peter taking pictures of him and Kevin as they fished in the river at the cabin. Flashes of Kevin, dying in his arms, raced through his mind. He lost his footing and landed sharply on his side.
He lay on the ground panting, curled up in a little ball, waiting for the pain to subside. He could see Arnaud and Stark standing over him, laughing. "No!" he screamed as he turned his head away and closed his eyes. That was much better. Now he saw pictures of Bobby and Claire, laughing and dancing at an Agency Christmas party. He saw himself dancing around like a fool, trying to kiss Claire under the mistletoe.
He smiled slightly and pushed himself up to his feet. He pressed on. Now there were images of Allianora and Kate and Casey and Jessica. All of those women. All of them gone. Now he was on his own.
***
"No sign of them? Nothing? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" screamed the Official in anger towards Clyde and his rescue crew.
"Sir, we've narrowed the area down to a few thousand miles. First thing in the morning we're going to start looking again," responded Clyde in as calm a voice he could manage.
"A few thousand miles? A few thousand miles? You call that narrowing down! For all we know they could be dying out there and you're telling me you're narrowing it down?" yelled the Official.
"With all due respect, sir, it's been nearly five days. If they did survive the crash, they probably did not survive the billions of creatures floating around the ocean, not to mention the storms of the last couple of days!" yelled Clyde.
The Official stepped forward and put a finger to Clyde's chest. "You find them. I don't care what you have to do, but you find them." With that, the Official walked back towards his office to look at yet another map.
***
The first thing Claire noticed when she woke up was how warm she felt. That was one of the perks of sleeping with Darien in her arms, the man was a good electric blanket. Plus, it was fun to play with his hair. She reached up with her hand, not bothering to open her eyes, waiting to feel the silky hair that was so long she could comb her fingers through it. But now there was only skin, smooth skin with short, barely there hair. What the hell?
Claire opened her eyes and jumped when she realized who was curled up in her arms. "Bobby? What are you doing?" she asked.
"Hmmm," he asked, smacking his lips.
"Bobby," she said sharply.
"What?" he asked, slightly irritated.
"Wake up," said Claire. She looked around in alarm. "Where's Darien?"
Bobby opened his eyes and sat up. "Maybe he went to check out the sunrise," replied Bobby as he lay back down and rolled over. "Oww, what the hell is this?" he said as he felt something poke him. He reached under his back and retrieved the object that had jabbed him. "Fawkes' shell," he said softly.
Claire looked at him with concern. "You don't think he would do anything stupid, do you?"
"Knowing Fawkes, he would definitely do something stupid," replied Bobby as he sat up and tried to wake himself up.
"Well he probably couldn't have gotten far with his injuries," said Claire as she stood up. Bobby quickly got up as well.
"Where did you find him the other night?" asked Bobby.
"On a pile of rocks on the other side of island," she said as she started walking down the beach. "Come on, let's go look for him," she said as she tugged at Bobby's shirt.
***
Darien was so close to his goal, but he just couldn't quite seem to get there. He was now crawling on his hands and knees, his skin scraped off raw against the rough path. He was so weak and prayed that he would just die right there. But somehow, he didn't think it was going to be that easy for him.
He crawled up a slight incline and when he reached the top, he crumpled to the ground in fear. There it was, the goal staring him right in the face. The edge was less than 10 feet away and a good 200 hundred feet up in the air. It would be perfect. But he didn't know if he had the energy to make it, much less stand up and jump off. But he had to try. It was Claire and Bobby's only hope.
***
"Fawkes! Come on, buddy, enough of this hide and go seek crap, come out!" yelled Bobby as he walked past the rocks that Claire had led him to.
"Darien, please if you can hear us, say something!" shouted Claire.
Bobby put his hands up in frustration. "Where the hell did he go? It's not like he could have just vanished into thin air."
Claire gave him a sharp look.
"Sorry, wrong choice of words," he said.
"Bobby, this is serious, he could be passed out hurt somewhere and we have no way of finding him," said Claire.
"I know, okay, I know. We just have to think," he said as he sat down on the rocks and put his head in his hands. "Why would he leave that rock?" he whispered to himself.
"Unless he wasn't planning on coming back," whispered Claire.
"You don't think he would…" Bobby trailed off in fear. "No, I don't believe that. Fawkes wouldn't do that."
"Bobby, he's hurt, he's stressed out, he's depressed and he's terrified that he's going to kill us," said Claire sadly. "Maybe he thought he didn't have a choice," she said so softly Bobby had to strain to hear her.
"So what, you think he just jumped in the ocean, is that it?" said Bobby. He stood up and started pacing across the rocks. "If that punk isn't dead, then when I find him, I'm going to kill him myself!" he shouted in anger.
Claire shook her head sadly and looked at the rising sun. Her glance moved towards the cliff and her heart nearly leapt out her chest. "Bobby, look!" she said as she pointed up at the cliff.
Bobby turned around and looked up at where she was pointing. Through the bright rays of the sun, he could make out a tall dark figure standing dangerously close to the edge. He turned to Claire and gave her a fierce look of determination. "He's not going to die today," he said as he grabbed her arm and started running towards the cliff.
***
Darien gazed at the crashing ocean down below, marveling at how beautiful it was. To the left of him, was the small waterfall, gargling softly as the water swept over the rocks and sparkling like a twinkling star. From up here, the view was spectacular. He saw the vast forest of palm trees, dotted with the occasional blast of color. He could see the help sign that Bobby and Claire had worked so hard on. It was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.
He was up so high he felt like he was a part of the heavens. The sun was shining down on him, causing him to feel warmth for the first time in days. It was peaceful and calm and perfect. And he was going to leave it all.
***
"Oww," cried Claire as she tripped over a rock.
Bobby hurried back towards her. "You okay?" he asked.
She nodded impatiently. "I'm fine, go get Darien," she said.
Bobby acknowledged her and then continued up the rocky path. He was nearly to the top, but he was having problems avoiding the huge rocks and loose dirt all over the path. He stumbled several times, cursing wildly. He could here Claire struggling from somewhere behind him.
He reached a slope and quickly ran up it as fast as he could. When he reached the top, he cautiously walked towards the figure that was standing so close to the edge.
"Fawkes," he said softly.
Darien didn't seem to hear him.
"Fawkes," he said louder.
Darien turned around. A look of panic came over his face. "Don't," he said.
"I'm here to take you down, my friend. I can't let you do this," said Bobby firmly as he slowly stepped towards Darien.
Darien put on a half-smile. "Relax Hobbesy, I'm just enjoying the view."
"Sure you are. Now come on, partner, come back down with me, okay?" urged Bobby.
"I can't," whispered Darien.
"Sure you can, buddy. You just take my hand and we walk off of this ledge and pretend like it never happened," said Bobby.
Darien looked back towards the edge. "I'm not going back," he said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not going to let you do this to yourself, you understand me, kid? You're my friend and you're hurting and I can see all that. But this isn't the answer," said Bobby as he stepped closer.
Darien jerked away, sending a few rocks scattering over the edge. "Stay back."
"Fawkes, this is stupid, okay. They're going to find us any day now. You don't have to do this," said Bobby.
Darien shook his head. "Yes I do," he said, tears burning his eyes.
"Why, huh, why? Why do you have to be so freakin selfish and leave us like this?" screamed Bobby in anger.
Darien turned around, tears running down his face. "Because I don't want to hurt you, man! I don't want to die knowing that I killed my two best friends in the whole world! I can't do that. I won't do that! This is where it ends, right here."
"No, Darien, it doesn't have to end here," said Claire as she came up behind Bobby. "We can help you, we can keep you safe until help arrives," she pleaded. "If you let us," she added softly.
Darien pointed around in the air. "Look around guys. Did you see any planes searching for us? Having you seen or heard anything the last five days that would hint at a rescue?"
"If your brother could see you now," said Bobby, shaking his head in disgust.
"Oh what, what, would he be disappointed in me? Well guess what Hobbes, my brother has been disappointed in me my whole life. Hell, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with," he shouted in anger.
"If it wasn't for him, none of us would have ever met," said Claire softly.
Darien stared at her for a long time, letting the words soak in. Suddenly, another blinding, pain flared from his stomach. He stumbled backwards toward the ledge, the rocks under his feet giving out.
"Fawkes, no!" yelled Bobby as he dashed towards his partner.
"Darien!" shouted Claire as she also ran towards him.
But they were too late. Darien slipped off the side of the cliff, scraping up his torso and bashing his ribs against the rocks as his hands clawed wildly for something to hold onto, but there just wasn't anything to grab.
TBC (Hahaha, a literal cliffhanger. I warned you guys to get the climbing gear out at the beginning of the story, didn't I? To be continued tomorrow, I promise)
